Thursday News: “Ecuador in shock as presidential candidate…assassinated”; Maui Fires Are a “‘Compound’ Climate Catastrophe”; “Abortion setback in Ohio alarms GOP, as Democrats see a ‘roadmap for 2024′”; “Ben Cline: Putin’s man in western Virginia”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, August 10.

• Will glaciers go “extinct” in our lifetime? Here’s what a future without polar ice would look like (“A new study details how climate change is causing extreme weather in the Antarctic and what that means for us”)
• ‘Nature needs money’: Lula tells rich countries to pay up and protect world’s rainforests
• Slowing Trade Fuels Fears of a Fractured Global Economy
• Exclusive: Kremlin aide who brings Ukrainian children to Russia associated online with neo-Nazism
• Two dead after Russian attack on Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia -minister
• Putin considers attending G20 summit in person, setting up tense meeting with Western leaders
• Why You Should Worry About China’s Missing Minister (“If the world’s best China experts can’t figure out what happened to one of the country’s most internationally recognizable officials, then imagine what else remains hidden behind the regime’s closed doors.”)
• Biden Narrows China Investment Order as US Seeks Better Ties
• ‘Blatant economic coercion’: China slams Biden’s order limiting U.S. overseas tech investment
• The US Is Pushing Guns on a Country It Labels Violent and Corrupt (Ugh.)
• Pakistan: Election delayed in latest political crisis
• Saudis Agree With U.S. on Path to Normalize Ties With Israel
• A presidential candidate in Ecuador has been shot and killed at campaign event
• Ecuador Presidential Candidate Villavicencio Assassinated (“Anti-graft campaigner murdered less than two weeks before vote; Soaring violence has made Ecuador more violent than Colombia”)
• Ecuador in shock as presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio assassinated
• New Zealand Concrete Industry Sets Emissions Reduction Target
• Mexico: outrage as Amlo suggests critics guilty of ‘gender-based violence’ against him (“Offhand remarks by Mexican president prompt condemnation in country with soaring levels of violence against women”)
• Iraq bans media usage of words ‘homosexuality,’ ‘gender’: reports (Sounds like Ron DeSantis in Florida.)
• Thursday’s inflation data may be low, but don’t expect the Fed to declare ‘mission accomplished’ yet
• US Consumer Prices Data Set to Show ‘Wave of Disinflation’ (Can’t wait for Republicans to complain about THIS! LOL)
• The US has a new Covid-19 variant on the rise. Meet Eris.
• What’s the deal with interconnection queues? (Very interesting conversation on an important issue, determining how quickly the U.S. can transition off of fossil fuels and onto clean power.)
• Biden says he has ‘practically’ declared a climate emergency (I mean, he’s done a lot, but…nope, the U.S. hasn’t actually declared a climate emergency, which we’re obviously in!)
• Ex-federal judge and prominent conservative: ‘There is no Republican Party’
• Historic Supreme Court case could imperil the entire US tax code
• Clarence Thomas’ 38 Vacations: The Other Billionaires Who Have Treated the Supreme Court Justice to Luxury Travel (This guy is utterly corrupt, a total scumbag and extremist who has ZERO business being on the US Supreme Court.)
• Special Report: Political violence in polarized US at its worst since 1970s (Such a ridiculous premise; in fact, the “polarization” is really asymmetric, as it’s RADICALIZTION of ONLY the right wing and the Republican Party.)
• A Trump judge sends Southwest Airlines to right-wing reeducation camp (Trump judges are a continuing menace to our nation.)
• Special counsel obtained search warrant for Donald Trump’s Twitter account
• Twitter was fined $350,000 for failing to turn over Trump’s data
• Elon Musk’s Twitter Wanted to Tell Trump About a Sealed Search Warrant and Potentially F–k Up Jack Smith’s Criminal Investigation
• “You will get violence”: Leading democracy expert says Donald Trump is not running to win election (“‘We are witnessing Trump telling America that if he doesn’t get his way,’ they will suffer”)
• Trump wants the DOJ to set up a secure facility where he can discuss classified docs (Please tell me this is a joke.)
• Trump’s Allies Prepare for Indictments in Georgia Probe: ‘They’re Coming for Everyone’
• Atlanta-area prosecutor expected to seek more than a dozen indictments in Trump case
• ‘Derogatory and false’: Fulton DA denies rumors circulated by Trump
• Trump seeks to reestablish secure facility at Mar-a-Lago to review classified evidence
• Special Counsel Secured Search Warrant For Trump’s Twitter Account (“Twitter was fined hundreds of thousands of dollars for initially resisting the warrant, new court documents show.”)
• Trump Says He Won’t Sign Pledge to Back Nominee Ahead of Republican Debate
• Biden, Democrats boost their data game for 2024
• Abortion setback in Ohio alarms GOP, as Democrats see a ‘roadmap for 2024’
• ‘Ohio saw through the con’: abortion rights advocates celebrate Issue 1 result
• Democrats may embrace abortion rights even more tightly after Ohio win
• Anti-abortion movement clashes over crushing defeat in Ohio
• Ohio’s Special Election Shows Abortion Is Still Driving People to the Polls
• After a Win in Ohio, Abortion Rights Groups Are Backing Ballot Measures in 2024
• Abortion setback in Ohio alarms GOP, as Democrats see a ‘roadmap for 2024’
• Much of historic Lahaina town believed destroyed as huge wildfire sends people fleeing into water
• Coast Guard rescues people fleeing into ocean to escape Hawaii wildfires
• 36 dead, 11,000 flee as wildfires rip through Maui
• Why did the Maui fire spread so fast? Drought, nonnative species and climate change among possible reasons
• What we’re seeing in #Maui is a “compound” climate catastrophe, where an immediate factor (in this case, unusually strong winds from the outer bands of a passing hurricane) interact w/ background state (extreme drought that has been in place for a month)
• FBI fatally shoots man in Utah who allegedly threatened Biden, Alvin Bragg and others
• Stephen Miller’s legal group sues Target over LGBTQ Pride collection backlash (Disgusting people.)
• DeSantis Suspends Second Elected Prosecutor in Florida (DeSantis is DeFascist)
• In Another Sign of Florida’s Democratic Decay, DeSantis Suspends an Elected Prosecutor (“He’s done it before—and no one will stop him.”)
• Fox News prime-time ratings continue to crater as Lachlan Murdoch downplays collapse to stakeholders
• Newsmax Ends Trump Interview With Super Awkward Disclaimer
• Civil rights groups challenge Tennessee GOP-led redistricting maps
• The Montgomery Brawl Was, for Some, a Clarifying Moment
• Arizona Republicans Don’t Want to Hear About the Deadly Heat Wave (Heads in the sand – the very hot sand!)
• Most Alabama voters want Tuberville to drop military hold: poll
• Michigan mom is charged with buying guns for son who threatened top Democrats, prosecutors say
• GOP donor Anton Lazzaro sentenced to 21 years for sex trafficking minors in Minnesota
• Senator Dianne Feinstein Taken to Hospital After Tripping, Falling in San Francisco
• Robbie Robertson, lead guitarist and songwriter of The Band, dies at 80
• Sen. Mark Warner Celebrates One-Year Anniversary of the CHIPS and Science Act, Which He Co-Authored (“Companies have announced $166 billion in investments in semiconductors and electronics in the one year since President Biden signed CHIPS into law”)
• Spanberger: Using ‘on the ground’ experiences from VA to help shape U.S. Farm Bill
• Commentary: Ben Cline: Putin’s man in western Virginia
• Budget standoff holds up amendment to staff Va. electric utility commission
• Democrats question Youngkin election order and ex-lawmaker’s status as judge
• Virginia’s Obamacare premiums to spike with reinsurance program end
• How a long-standing labor law in Virginia could impact elections this year
• Joel Griffin (D) Internal Poll Demonstrates “Dead-Even” Race, with “Clear Path to Victory” in SD27 (“When voters hear balanced, positive introductions of both candidates, they move to support Griffin by a 5-point margin [48%-43%].”)
• HD62 Dem Nominee Sara Ratcliffe: “I can’t say if Mr. Freitas has met all the qualifications for candidacy legally, but his actions are dubious at the very least.” (As usual, Freitas’ candidacy is a hot mess)
• Ex-Congressman Tom Garrett accused of abuse in bitter divorce proceedings
• AI weapons detection startups compete with industry giant in expanding Va. school market
• Editorial: Informing parents quickly about bullying can help protect kids (“A new state law requires that schools inform parents about bullying incidents within 24 hours, a laudable goal but one that might stretch already thin school staffs.”)
• Schapiro: Rao-ing VCU’s boat down the roiling stream
• Pricey seawall in Virginia won’t address key impacts of climate change, critics fear
• What Do The YIMBYs of Northern Virginia Want?
• Virginia prison officials won’t divulge complaints about facility where inmate died
• Lawyers in Richneck case agree: Teachers wouldn’t expect to be shot on the job
• Stafford’s meeting about medical clinics ends when supervisor walks out
• Virginia Museum Will Return ‘Wounded Indian’ Statue to Boston
• Advocates, experts caution against proposed new gas plant in Chesterfield
• LGBTQ advocates condemn Youngkin administration’s transgender student policy
• Hampton City Councilman Chris Bowman censured after encounter with prostitute
• Mitigation work continues at Bristol landfill, as city aims to reduce smell by spring 2024
• D.C.-area forecast: A day of showers, a weekend of summer sun and heat